A Certain Step Towards Falling In Love
by tartan-slippers
Summary: "Everybody has some defining character flaw," he said. "Well yours is obviously that you mock everyone," Lily shot back at him. "Then yours is that you wilfully misjudge them," he retorted. Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' with a Jily twist.
1. A Truth Universally Acknowledged

**Disclaimer: However well I may know her work, I am unfortunately not JK Rowling, and therefore do not own anything from the world of Harry Potter. The storyline I owe to another favourite author by the name of Jane Austen - see if you can spot some famous quotes!**

**A/N: This is a new story idea I had: an L/J fic based on a very famous love story by Jane Austen that I hope should be very obvious… This opening chap is short, mainly because I just needed to set the scene, but I hope you enjoy, and I promise that following chapters will be longer. Please review!**

* * *

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single young wizard in possession of good looks _must_ be in want of a girlfriend."

The three girls on the seat opposite gave the brunette matching looks of fond indulgence as they opened their Chocolate Frogs. The brunette, however, was undeterred.

"My mother says it all the time. Sort of. I mean, I'm paraphrasing slightly; she tends to go on about money and marriage. But the central tenet still applies."

"And your mother's crazy ramblings are relevant, _how_, Abby?" asked Mary Macdonald, the petite brunette with the long, soft curls that sat closest to the compartment door.

Abigail Macmillan let out a loud and dramatic sigh, spreading her arms wide.

"I sometimes wonder why I bother, when not _one_ of you pays attention!"

The blonde and the red-head, who had been occupied comparing their Chocolate Frog cards, looked up at their despairing companion.

"Sorry, Abby," said Marlene, the blonde, her blue eyes displaying genuine concern and apology, "We're listening now: please do elaborate."

Lily, the red-head, sighed, meeting the small brunette's eyes, and the pair shared a look of weary resignation tinged with humour.

"As I was saying: ladies, we are now sixth years, and will be turning seventeen this year, and as such, we need to be attempting to change our boyfriendless status. There are plenty of attractive single wizards that would be appropriate, and now is the time to make our moves."

"Now?" Lily asked, her green eyes filled with mirth, "Why now?"

"Because next year, as you fine well know Miss Prefect, will be N.E.W.T. year, and I won't be able to convince you that anything else is worth your time and effort. It needs to be an ingrained habit by then."

"That's actually pretty well reasoned," Mary laughed.

"God, Mary, shoot me in the back, why don't you," Lily shot back at her small, brunette friend, who stuck her tongue out in reply.

"Mary, Lily, please," the blonde said in a gentle though slightly pained fashion, "Let Abby finish."

"Sorry, Marlene," Lily said, putting her hand on her blonde friend's arm, and giving her a reassuring smile.

"Anyway," Abby continued blithely, obviously getting into her rhythm now and rather enjoying herself, "I've decided that, this year, we are going to be more sociable. You know what they say: 'to be fond of dancing is a certain step towards falling in love'."

Lily raised one eyebrow.

"I'm fairly certain that it's just your mother that says that, Abby," she said with a teasing grin.

"Possibly," Abby admitted, "But that doesn't make it any less true."

Lily sighed, but her argument was born more out of fun than real opposition to her determined friend's ludicrous idea: Abby would as likely forget this plan before they even arrived at Hogwarts, based on her track record. It was just fun to needle her friend.

"So," Abby continued boldly, sweeping her long brown hair over one shoulder, "Our first target is this evening's Welcome Back party in the common room."

Lily perked up. She always enjoyed the party that the Gryffindors threw on the first night back at Hogwarts. It was so nice to catch up with everyone, and dance a bit, and have a few Butterbeers without worrying about_ certain individuals_ having laced it with either apparently hilarious hexes or Firewhisky, as often ended up the case at Gryffindor parties.

"_And_, having personally witnessed the summer-ification of some of the Gryffindor chaps, I have a good idea who I'm going to try and catch for you all," Abby continued gleefully.

"No way," Mary said flatly, "I don't need any help in getting a man, thanks, Mother Abigail,"

Lily's voice was pained, "I really don't either, Abby."

Marlene was left trapped between wanting to agree with her two more outspoken friends, and wanting to appease the apparently insane Abby.

"Well, that's fine," Abby carried on, not giving Marlene a chance to really try and object, "Because it's _you_ that I've got a real plan for anyway, Marls."

Marlene turned a little green.

"Gosh, Abby, I mean, thanks, but -"

"I bumped into him on the platform, and boy, he's bulked up and sprouted a few inches over the summer. Your type too - all nice, and quiet, and studious…"

Lily couldn't help but be intrigued on her stunned-into-silence friend's behalf.

"Who, Abby?"

"Remus Lupin," Abby said with a triumphant smile.

Lily considered it. She knew Remus reasonably well from patrolling last year: they didn't move in the same circles at all, with Remus being part of a much cooler and more exclusive group than Lily and her friends, but he seemed a nice guy, with a surprising dry wit. She supposed he and Marlene could be a good combination, although, naturally defensive of her tooth-achingly sweet friend, she would remain unconvinced until she saw how well he looked out for her.

Marlene, though, on the mention of Remus' name, went white, then scarlet. The other girls immediately noticed this odd reaction from their reserved friend, and leaned in closer.

"Now, what do we have here?" Mary asked evilly as Marlene desperately tried to avoid meeting anyone else's gaze.

"I think our darling Marlene has a crush," Lily teased, her green eyes sparkling with fun.

"I am GOOD!" Abby cried, thumping her fist down on her thigh in victory.

"Please, don't… I don't… I mean, I'd rather not…" Marlene stammered, very distressed but unable to properly chastise her friends.

"Don't worry," Lily said warmly to the shy blonde, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in close, "I won't let them embarrass you, Marls. I promise."

"Thanks, Lily," Marlene said gratefully, as Abby and Mary made noises of indignant objection.

"Hey, don't go promising anything yet, Lily," Mary said darkly, "Remember that your dearest darling Potter is in that group. We'd rather have an un-exploded common room, you know."

Lily rolled her eyes at her small friend.

"Just because I think he's an arrogant, conceited git doesn't mean I can't be perfectly civil to him for Marlene's romance's sake, you know," she said primly.

"Hey," Marlene objected weakly to her further involvement.

"I know," Abby agreed, completely misunderstanding Marlene's point, "There's no way she'll manage it. He might be _James Potter_ \- Quidditch hero, prankster, pant-droppingly handsome and clever to boot - who spent all of last year desperately trying to pin her down for a date, but Lily is absolutely blind to all of that. All she sees is a slug."

"That's harsh," Lily played along, setting the girls to giggling once more, "I'd much rather date the slug."

* * *

Further down the train, four boys sat in an identical compartment. They were engrossed in a rather intense game of Exploding Snap that had already singed off Peter Pettigrew's eyebrows, leaving him appearing permanently surprised.

James Potter played his final card, and lifted his hands in the air in celebration.

"Bow down before Prongs, king of the cards!" he exclaimed, before quickly curling up to avoid the barrage of Bertie Bott's that his friends suddenly sent flying towards him.

"Not the vomit flavour! Anything but vomit!" he shouted from his defensive position, whilst his friends continued to pelt him with sweets.

At that moment, the door to the compartment opened, and a fourth year boy appeared in the doorway. The boys halted their abuse of James, and looked up at the boy in a slightly intimidating fashion.

"Um, sorry, but can I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

"Look, Adrian is it?" James said with a sigh as he sat up and dusted the Beans off of his robes, "There's a compartment a few doors down with some fourth year Gryffindors in it. With the additional information that Peter, here, has an abhorrent intestinal disorder that results in rather rancid clouds of scent following him everywhere he goes, it would seem that you'd be much better off there."

Adrian's eyebrows rose sharply, and he nodded quickly before squeaking his thanks, and disappearing back out of the compartment.

"Nice one, James," Sirius barked with laughter.

"Well, who'd have wanted to share with a spotty fourth year? And Adrian Morts is a complete square, too," James said with a self-satisfied grin.

Sirius and James shared a smug smile, but Remus sighed loudly as his friends' attitude.

"We were fourth years too, once," he started.

"Yeah, but better looking," Sirius injected with a snigger.

"And," Remus continued with a frown at his tall, dark-haired friend, "To be perfectly honest it's no wonder _certain people_ go around calling you an 'arrogant toerag' if that's the way you act around anyone that's your inferior."

James' laugh died, and his eyes narrowed at his sandy-haired friend. '_Arrogant toerag_'. Those words had rattled around his head all summer, ever since that incident beside the lake after the O.W.L.'s last year. Even with everything that had happened that summer, he'd had plenty of time to stew over those words, and the red-head who'd said them.

"Well, _certain people_ can go drink the Draught of Living Death, for all I care," he stated, an undercurrent of anger in his deep voice.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at his bespectacled friend, looking completely unconvinced.

"Yeah, right, mate. The minute she was asleep you'd be off to play Prince Charming."

"Ooh, I remember that one from Muggle Studies," Peter beamed, his chest puffing with pride.

Sirius and James completely ignored Peter's input, as per usual, and James threw Sirius a glare.

"I would not. I'm over her."

Sirius shared a disbelieving look with Remus.

"Yeah, yeah, Prongs. Sorry, but you can't fool your mates."

James slouched back into his seat moodily.

"I'm not fooling anybody. She was just a bit of skirt that I only wanted because I couldn't have it. I've got better looking girls to chase this year."

Remus leaned towards his friend, seriously.

"You're right," he said, and both James and Sirius looked to him in mistrust and confusion, "You're absolutely right. You really aren't fooling anybody."

Sirius burst into laughter, and Peter quickly added his giggles to the cacophony. But James looked unamused.

"Just wait," he said darkly, "You'll see."

* * *

Lily sat beside Marlene, and opposite Abby and Mary. The four were laughing merrily at Nearly Headless Nick, who was trying to put the first years off their dinner.

"Poor little first years," Marlene lamented, caught between enjoying the fun and feeling sorry for the young witches and wizards.

"This is nothing - they've still got to encounter Peeves," Lily pointed out with a wide smile. The other girls giggled their agreement, and went back to answering questions from the first years about the professors.

Lily reached over towards the large dish of treacle tart, feeling like she could squeeze one more piece in before her uniform burst open in front of the entire school. As she did, her gaze happened to move up, and she froze.

Further down the Gryffindor table, James and Sirius had been busy Transfiguring the Mississippi mud pie on the Slytherin table into actual mud pie, and were trying to keep their mirth under wraps as the Slytherins spat out bites of their dessert

"Good work, Prongs," Sirius laughed, slapping James across the back, "Avery looks about as confused as he did during the Divination O.W.L."

"That's because he didn't take Divination," Peter piped up helpfully. Sirius paused for a moment, looking over at the Slytherin boy, who seemed to be taking his time considering what was now in his mouth.

"God, he really is an idiot, isn't he?

James chuckled, and reached out for a last chocolate eclair. As he did, his eyes, for some reason, happened to flicker up, and he froze.

Green eyes met hazel across the length of the table, and sparks of electricity seemed to shoot between the two Gryffindors. The girl he didn't want to think about. The boy she didn't want to see.

She tilted up her chin, challenging him. He blew her a kiss, his eyes narrowed in silent sarcasm. Then both of them looked away, returning to their respective conversations.

Round six had begun.


	2. Not Handsome Enough To Tempt Me

**Disclaimer: Characters/Setting borrowed from JK Rowling, and Plot (with some famous quotes) from Jane Austen. Two fantastic and clever female writers that I have simply mashed together...**

* * *

The Welcome feast had been fantastic, as always, and the girls were so full of food that they were putting off getting changed for the party in the Gryffindor common room. Abby, Mary, Lily and Marlene slouched about on their beds, sharing gossip they'd heard at the feast and feeling, all in all, rather pleased to be back.

The fifth and sixth inhabitants of the Gryffindor sixth year girls' dorm, however, were already getting dressed. Caroline Bramley and her partner-in-crime, Julia Fawley, had roomed with Lily and her friends for five full years, and yet Lily barely knew either of them. They didn't have time for the other Gryffindor girls - they had friends in Ravenclaw, and, of course, ran in the same circles as Potter and Black.

Caroline stood in front of the large mirror, pinning up her fair curls so that they fell artfully around her finely featured face. Lily watched her putting the final touches to her makeup, and then suddenly fond Caroline's gaze meeting hers through the reflection of the mirror.

"Problem, Evans?" Caroline challenged, with a honeyed smile. Lily swallowed the urge to smirk back at her.

"Not at all, Bramley. Heading to the party?" she attempted to diffuse the other girl's dislike.

"Of course not," Caroline laughed, as though Lily's suggestion was the funniest thing she'd heard all evening, "Nobody actually _goes_ to those anymore, not unless they're thirteen years old or haven't had a better offer."

She suddenly turned round, a look of faux shock and embarrassment on her pretty face. She raised a hand to her lips, as though trying to stop the words coming out, but too late.

"Oh my goodness, _you_ aren't going, are you, Evans? I'm _so_ sorry. I'm sure you'll have a _great_ time," she gushed, but Lily saw the smug look that replaced the polite embarrassment all too soon.

"I'm sure we will," Lily replied with a slightly forced smile, "As long as you promise me you're taking Potter and his gang with you to your far superior party."

"I'll definitely be keeping him busy, anyway," Caroline smiled sweetly. Lily sent a saccharine smile of her own back to the fair-haired girl, as she and Julia swept out of the dorm room, giggling as they closed the door behind them.

"Bitch," said Mary, gruffly.

"That's unkind, Mary," Marlene said gently, "Caroline apologised the moment she realised what she'd said."

The other three girls looked incredulously at Marlene, who blushed softly.

"It did seem a little forced, " she admitted, "But remember Caroline isn't _used_ to apologising. She might have felt really awkward."

"I'm sure she felt as awkward as Snape at a wet t-shirt contest," Mary said drily.

Lily joined Marlene in the disapproving looks this time.

Snape was a touchy subject for Lily. Not only had they been best friend for years, surviving their Sorting into rival Houses and their completely different groups of friends, but she was fairly sure his feelings for her had been more than just friendly. She had even fancied herself half in love with him too at the start of her fifth year, but she had had her eyes forcibly opened to his growing obsession with the Dark Arts, his unsavoury friends and his innate bigotry.

The word 'Mudblood' would always hurt worse since he'd said it to her.

It had hurt Lily hugely to cut her ties with her friend: the one who had told her what she was, and that she had shared those beautiful, magical childhood experiences with. However, she couldn't have stayed friends with him - not without compromising her own morality. But still, the loss of him hurt her, and she could see it hurt him too: he had never been good at hiding his emotions, especially not from Lily.

"Anyway," Abby interjected, sidelining her friends before yet _another_ argument over Snape and whether or not he could still be redeemable erupted, "Has no one noticed the importance of Bramley's revelation?"

The other girls looked blankly at the tall brunette.

"For goodness sake, I do wonder about you lot, you know. I sometimes think Bramley and Fawley have a point about you all being freaks."

Mary sent a pillow hurtling at Abby, who loudly screeched "UNAPPRECIATED!", much to her friends' amusement.

"Ok, ok. Go on. What was so important?" Lily said, her curiosity piqued. What on earth could Caroline Bramley have said that was so important?

Abby looked a little smug now that her friends were finally listening.

"Just that Potter won't be at the common room party."

"And?" Lily asked. To be perfectly honest, she would enjoy the evening much more without having to endure his constant attempts to make himself look good by making other people look bad. And it wasn't just the first years she felt sorry for: every time he highlighted her lack of social status by mockingly asking her out, Bramley became ten times as smug and taunting, and an evening free of that would be bliss.

"AND?!" Abby exclaimed, looking shocked and slightly appalled at her red-headed friend. Lily looked to Mary, who looked equally bemused, and then to Marlene, who coloured very slightly. Then it hit her.

"Oh, _no_. If Potter isn't there, then…"

"Then Lupin isn't, either," Abby finished for her, looking rather put out. Lily supposed that Abby's heart was in the right place, but it was a little weird how desperate she seemed to be to engineer her friends' love lives. Abby was obviously more like her pureblood, marriage-obsessed mother than she'd ever admit…

"Look," Marlene said, her smile pinned back to her face, "That doesn't matter at all. Let's go and have a good time, us girls."

Abby was a little reluctant, but the other two agreed quickly and cheerfully. Several moments later, Abby brightened rather suddenly.

"What's up with you?" Mary asked suspiciously.

"I've just realised something: the boys may not be there, but at least if they aren't there we can spend the evening talking about them without worrying."

The other three girls groaned, and yet more pillows hurtled towards an astonished looking Abby.

* * *

James was waiting impatiently for Sirius to finish using the mirror.

"Sorry, mate, but yours will look a right mess no matter what you do: _my_ hair will actually look better when I'm done, hard as it is to believe that _this_ could get much better."

Sirius continued artfully arranging the individual strands, and James was tempted to Stun him.

Remus was ready to leave, and lay waiting on his bed, the Marauder's Map (the rather excellent aid to magical mischief that the boys had lovingly created in their fourth year) open beside him. He watched it, and frowned.

"I think Filch is on to us, lads," he said slowly. James and Sirius turned simultaneously away from the reflective object of their desire, and Peter sat bolt right upright on his bed in alarm.

"How?" Sirius asked, baffled, "That old Alchemy classroom is perfect - there's nothing else important on the sixth floor back corridor, but its not far enough out of the way of the main classrooms to need checking regularly."

"Well, Filch has been walking up and down that corridor for twenty minutes, and has been in and out of that classroom twice," Remus said, gesturing at the Map, "I'd say the jig is up."

James swore.

"Well I refuse point blank to take Caroline and the girls to the Room of Requirement, " he stated stubbornly.

"Well where else are we going to move an inter-House alcoholic party to at the last minute?" Sirius countered. James pushed his glasses further up his nose, and scowled. Remus sighed, loudly.

"What about just going to the common room party?" Peter piped up, his head tilted slightly to one side in a fashion that made him look somewhat like a confused puppy.

James and Sirius scoffed, but Remus sat up slowly, his eyes brightening.

"You know, Wormy, that's not a bad idea…" he said, thoughtfully.

"No way," James vetoed, "I have _no_ intention of having my evening ruined by prissy prefects confiscating my Firewhisky, and being surrounded by gawking third years."

Remus raised one eyebrow.

"I _am_ one of those prissy prefects, Prongs, remember?"

"Not as prissy as _some_ prefects one could mention," James grumbled under his breath. Sirius, however, was close enough to hear him, and he chuckled.

"It always comes back to her, doesn't it, mate?" he said cheerfully. He did find his friend's continual failure with the one girl he was really interested in rather amusing.

James scowled, and grumbled something rather more profane at Sirius. He wasn't thinking about her. He wasn't. He'd had _enough_.

"Well," Sirius said, brightly ignoring the evil look coming his way, "I agree with Moony. We haven't been to a common room party on the first night back since they were cool - let's take some pranking essentials with us, and plenty of Firewhisky, and we can always go and let some fireworks off in Filch's office if it's boring and he's still lurking on the sixth floor."

Remus smiled, and Peter nodded fervently in agreement. James let out a long-suffering sigh, but finally agreed.

"Ok. But Padfoot is breaking it to Caroline."

* * *

Lily was thoroughly enjoying the common room party, despite Caroline Bramley's distaste for it. Gideon Prewett, one of the seventh year boys, had taken over control of the music, and had the Hobgoblins playing at full blast, and whilst Lily had spotted the case of mead that had been inexpertly stashed under one of the tables near the window, as all the younger children had headed to bed and no one seemed to be making a fool of themselves, she had turned a blind eye.

The boys had cleared the armchairs and tables from one side of the room, and students had started dancing on the makeshift dance floor - Mary amongst them. The pretty, petite girl was never short of a dance partner at a party. Lily, Abby and Marlene, however, were happily sat on the armchairs, drinking Butterbeer and chatting.

"I see my cousin Alice and Frank Longbottom are still together," Abby commented as they spotted two seventh years dancing together.

"How sweet," Marlene gushed, "They are such a lovely couple."

"And watch Gideon showing off in front of Dorcas Meadowes, despite her not being remotely interested," Lily pointed out, as Dorcas and her friend Emmeline continued dancing, blithely ignoring the tall blonde boy who was desperately trying to catch her eye.

"I love people-watching," mused Lily out loud, "People themselves alter so much that there is something new to be observed in them for ever."

The girls nodded sagely, but all of a sudden, Abby's elbow went hard into Lily's ribs.

"Ow, you mad bint, what was that for?" Lily asked, crossly.

"Don't turn around!" Abby hissed quickly. Lily and Marlene both froze, looking straight ahead.

"Oh, act natural for goodness sake, just don't turn around. Despite a certain haughty witch's declarations to the contrary, a certain group of boys have just climbed through the portrait hole, and are heading towards the seats right behind us!"

Lily suppressed a groan. She's been having such a fab night, and now Potter and his friends would ruin it by acting superior to everyone else, and making fun of people, and making stupid mocking comments about her.

"Hang on - Remus just said Marlene's name!" Abby whispered, and suddenly all three girls were listening very intently to the conversation that was going on behind them.

"Ok, I agree, Moony - McKinnon's not bad looking, and Macdonald is pretty enough, if you like that sort of thing. But there really isn't another attractive girl in the room. That's the trouble with single House parties," Potter stated knowledgeably.

"I call you on that lie, Prongs," Black laughed, "Evans is definitely on that list too."

Potter made a sound of disgust.

"Not at all. She's not _ugly_ by any means, certainly tolerable to look at, but she's not pretty enough to tempt _me_."

Lily felt like a bucket of ice cold water had just been dumped over her head. She's always known that Potter was mocking her when he kept asking her out so publicly - but to have his total lack of interest in her so bluntly displayed definitely hurt her pride. And he's said it loudly enough and casually enough that anyone else sitting out the dancing like the girls had would have heard him.

How mortifying.

However Lily hadn't had a moment to recover before a smiling sandy-haired boy stood in front of them.

"Hey, girls," Lupin said with a bright smile, "How were your summers?"

He was met with a chorus of "good"'s from the girls, and he seemed genuinely pleased by the response.

"Well, since the music is actually half decent tonight, and you girls are looking just great, why don't we go and dance?"

Lily noticed how his gaze slipped to Marlene like his eyes were magnetised. She smiled.

"What a great idea, we love dancing, don't we, girls?" she laughed, and put a hand on Marlene's arm, "Why don't you take Marlene up, Remus?"

Marlene blushed, and Lily saw Abby squirming with happiness in the corner of her eye. However, her moment of happiness for her friend was very short-lived.

"Well, there's three of us, and three of you," Lupin said brightly, his eyes not leaving Marlene, "So let's all go."

Lily felt the dread settle like a cloak around her shoulders. She looked desperately to Abby, her green eyes pleading for some way out of this. But she was too late: Abby was already grinning up at the handsome Sirius Black (her mother's dream catch, Lily was sure) looking rather pleased.

Lily felt a presence at her shoulder, and she turned slowly, feeling like a condemned man walking to the gallows.

"So. Dancing," Potter said, taking a deep breath and running his hand through his messy black hair. She could just imagine how annoyed he was by his friends forcing him into dancing with someone he didn't even like. The fact he hadn't even thrown a mocking comment at her surely showed how irritated he was. He was just too proud to stand on the sidelines by himself whilst his friends had fun.

She refused to let him save face.

"Actually, Potter, I don't dance," she said sweetly. Potter looked confused.

"But, didn't you just say…"

"Well, I don't _anymore_," she amended, raising her chin to meet his accusing gaze defiantly. Go on, she thought, just try me.

"Right," he said, slowly, "Ok, then. Thanks, I guess."

He went to sit down on the armchair beside her. Lily felt her stomach drop - she didn't really want to have to keep him company for the length of a song, either, if she was perfectly honest. She looked around wildly, before meeting the gaze of Fabian Prewett, Gideon's little brother. She had done Slughorn a favour last year by tutoring the boy in Potions, and she was sure that meant he owed her one.

"Oh, look, " she said, standing up as she gestured towards Fabian, "There's Fabian. I promised him a dance, earlier - I really have to go."

Potter's eyebrows went heavenward as she strode off across the room towards the bemused but delighted fifth year, but he said absolutely nothing at all.

* * *

James couldn't believe it. For a moment, he'd been thanking his lucky stars that Remus was not only so observant, but, unlike Sirius, knew when to keep his mouth shut - why else would he have gone straight over to Lily and her friends to get them up to dance, if not so James could dance with Lily?

His plan of ignoring her had been a resounding failure: he'd spotted her the moment he'd entered the room, and had that flame-red hair in the corner of his eye ever since. So Remus' intervention seemed like a gift from God - especially after he'd completely denied his feelings for her in front of Sirius. Not that Sirius likely believed him, but as convincing Sirius was often as good as convincing himself, it was a plan worth pursuing.

Then he'd clammed up. Normally, regardless of how nervous she made him, he could pull out his 'confident James' persona and make some charming or flirty comment. But tonight, for whatever reason, he hadn't known what to say. Maybe it was the way her eyes reflected the light off the fire, or the haircut she'd got over the summer, or the new colour of lipstick she was wearing: he wasn't sure, but _something_ had put him off his game.

And she'd rejected him. Not just rejected him, either, but in a very obviously insulting way. That was obviously what came of being natural. Next time, it would be 'confident James' or bust.

No! He ran a hand through his messy hair in frustration. There would _be_ no next time! James Potter had had _enough_ of Lily Evans. And that was that.

He had had enough of the common room party, too. Even the Firewhisky Sirius had stashed in his inside pocket and now seemed to be sharing with Abby Macmillan couldn't tempt him to hang about. He strode to the portrait hole and quickly left the common room.

Outside, he pulled his Invisibility Cloak from his pocket, and pulled it on. He needed to go for a walk. Alone.


	3. If He Hadn't Mortified Mine

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Potterverse - it's all the wonderful JKR's. Equally, I don't own what is arguably one of the world's most loved love stories - that's all Jane Austen's. Including the quotes.**

**A/N: This isn't as long as I intended it to be - the girls are channelling the brevity, it's only James that felt like wallowing. The next one, however, will be _good_ ;)**

* * *

Lily noticed on walking into the Great Hall that most of the Gryffindor table looked how she felt: tired, cranky, and dehydrated. Abby in particular seemed a little delicate, although that was likely due to the bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhisky that she'd noticed Sirius Black passing around the common room the previous evening.

The four girls took a seat at the Gryffindor table, and began piling their plates with the required greasy food. Abby, however, pushed her plate away, looking a little queasy.

"So," Mary said, initiating the analysis of the previous evening's events, "You looked like you were having a good time, Abby. Dancing with Black, drinking Firewhisky…"

Abby groaned, and slouched forward to rest her head on her crossed arms. The other girls laughed.

"Looks like she did, indeed," Lily agreed, "Her mother would be proud."

"You know," Abby grumbled into her sleeve, "My mother isn't half as bad as you all think. The Macmillans have married Muggleborns and half-bloods over the last few generations, and when my second sister Georgiana married a Muggleborn, Mum was just as happy as she was when my eldest sister Catherine married a Prewett."

Marlene patted Abby's shoulder, gently.

"Of course we know your mum isn't like that," Marlene comforted her friend.

"But she'd still be pretty chuffed if you mentioned Black in your next letter home," Mary added, causing Lily to burst into giggles again.

"Alright," Marlene said, determined to change the subject, "What about you, Mary? You looked like you were dancing all night."

"Of course I was," Mary said with a wicked smile, "What's the point of a party without dancing?"

Lily gave her a knowing glance, which Mary returned with a wink.

"Anyway, I met a couple of Ravenclaw guys over the summer, and I promised them I'd hang out with them once we got back to school. I _had_ to check out the Gryffindor selection again before making a move like sitting at the Ravenclaw table, didn't I?"

Lily rolled her eyes. Mary was a very pretty girl, and very confident too, so she was never short of suitors. It would be very quiet on the Gryffindor table if she disappeared to spend time with the Ravenclaws, but hopefully, like most of Mary's ideas, it wouldn't last long.

"Don't roll your eyes at me, Miss Prefect," Mary said tartly, "I saw you flirting with _both_ the Prewett brothers last night!"

"Not at all," Lily laughed, tickled at her friend's misinterpretation, "You know Gideon is mad for Dorcas Meadowes, and I tutored Fabian in Potions last year. We were just having fun."

"What, dancing together?" Mary leered.

"_And_ playing music, and chatting to Alice, Frank and Emmeline," Lily added, pointedly. Mary sighed.

"Ok, so your evening wasn't that exciting then."

"It was exciting enough," Lily said a little darkly, her thoughts going back to that horrible moment when Potter had so bluntly revealed his true feelings for her. She wouldn't be able to stand him trying to mock her again, that was for sure.

"Poor Lily," Marlene said, her expression sympathetic, "How horrible to be told you're just 'tolerable'."

Lily grimaced, but in such an exaggerated way that Mary and Marlene were both set to giggling.

"I could probably have forgiven Potter's pride if he hadn't mortified mine," she said.

"I can't believe it," Abby added from the depths of her crossed arms, "I always thought he was such a nice guy. A bit full of himself, but a good guy. And he always seemed to really like you."

"Let's face it," Lily said, "He was always just making fun of me, like he does with everyone."

Mary nodded in agreement, but Marlene hesitated, looking sceptical.

"I'm just not sure I can think that of him," Marlene admitted.

"Don't worry," Lily said reassuringly, "I know you can't think badly of anybody, and I don't think you're a less supportive friend because of it."

"I can so," Marlene said, slightly put out, "I think badly of… oh, You-Know-Who."

This set all three other girls to laughing, although Abby looked rather pained immediately afterwards.

"Of course you do, Marlene: he's only the greatest evil the wizarding world has faced since Grindelwald," Mary said drily.

"Anyway," Lily moved on, her gaze narrowing in on her pretty blonde friend, "What about you, Marlene? I noticed you danced _several_ different times with our lovely Mr Lupin."

"He's… very nice," Marlene said a little lamely, before flushing bright pink.

"Gosh, stop, way too much information," Mary said sarcastically.

"Leave her alone," Lily gently reprimanded Mary as she picked up a slice of toast and began buttering it, "You know Marlene isn't good at sharing her feelings."

Marlene's face lit up with relief as the girls changed the subject.

"So, do you think old Sluggy is having a party for the Slug Club this week, as a welcome back?" Mary asked.

"Maybe," Lily answered, "But you're not _in_ the Slug Club, Mac."

"But I'll definitely be a plus one this time," Mary grinned, quite pleased with herself. Marlene smiled warmly.

"Who's the lucky boy?"

"Well, could be any one of three - I haven't decided yet," Mary replied, causing Marlene's jaw to drop in surprise, much to Lily's amusement, "Better to keep my options open."

"Of course," Marlene said, faintly.

"Timetables, Gryffindors! Take a timetable!" came the magically magnified voice of Professor McGonagall as she marched down the length of the Gryffindor table. As she passed, the girls quickly reached out and took the proffered class schedules, which magically altered to suit each individual girl.

"Brilliant," Lily grinned, "I've got Monday morning off, and the whole of Thursday afternoon."

"I don't have any decently useable free periods," moaned Abby as she finally raised her head to squint at her timetable.

"I have an extra long lunch on Fridays," Mary noted, smiling, "Perfect for lunch dates."

"And where on _earth_ would you go on a Friday for an extra long lunch date, when the Hall is only open for actual lunch?" Lily asked, rolling her eyes.

"Most of my dates seem to end up in the fifth floor broom closet by the stairs, or else that disused Defense classroom on the third floor," Mary said, boldly, and laughed at the way Lily's expression changed.

It was at that moment that suddenly all of the distributed class schedules in the Hall shot out of their owners' hands, skyrocketing towards the enchanted ceiling. They began to fold themselves into origami cranes, and started flying around the replica clouds, chasing each other and forming small group formations as they flew.

Around two-thirds of the Hall started laughing, pointing up at the schedule-birds and generally enjoying the spectacle. Whispers flew around the room as quickly as the birds, and many eyes went in the direction of the four Gryffindor boys who sat, completely unperturbed by the commotion, enjoying their cooked breakfasts. The other third of the students (many of which were wearing green-and-silver uniforms) looked rather put out, their expressions matching that of Professor McGongall, who glowered down at James Potter and his friends with no amusement whatsoever.

"Potter!" she called across the Hall, causing yet more of the students to look towards the infamous group of pranksters known collectively as the Marauders. However, at McGonagall's shout, the schedule-birds seemed to notice her, and as a flock they began to dive-bomb her.

McGonagall was quick with her wand, sending a hex at the oncoming pieces of folded parchment faster than Lily's eyes could follow, knocking out a fifth of the birds in one spell. It really was impressive magic. Professors Flitwick and Thatcher, the Charms and Defence teachers respectively, drew their wands and stood to flank McGonagall. Between the three of them, the flock was quickly and calmly subdued, leaving the charred fragments of parchment floating through the air the only remnant of the students' timetables.

"Students, please return to your common rooms, where your new class schedules will be distributed," Dumbledore announced, standing up from where he had sat blithely enjoying his scrambled eggs throughout the mayhem, his voice ringing around the Hall, "Mr Potter, Mr Black, Mr Pettigrew, and Mr Lupin, if you would please wait in the Hall. Unfortunately, your welcome to this year's students seems to require some tidying up."

* * *

Occupied in observing Remus' interactions with Marlene during their classes that day, Lily was far from suspecting that she was herself was an object of interest in the eyes of his friend. James had scarcely allowed her to be pretty: he had looked at her without admiration at the party; and when they next met in Charms, he looked at her only to criticise the casualness of her wandwork. But no sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she had hardly a good feature in her face, than he had to admit that it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her green eyes. To this piece of self-discovery succeeded some others equally mortifying. Though he had pointed out to Sirius with a critical eye more than one failure of perfect symmetry in her form, he was forced to acknowledge to himself in Defence that her figure was light and pleasing; and in spite of his asserting that her manners were not those of the girls of the fashionable wizarding world, he was caught by their easy playfulness. Of this she was perfectly unaware: to her he was only the boy who spent his life mocking others, and who had not thought her pretty enough to dance with.

The Gryffindor boys were back in the Great Hall, just finishing cleaning the scorched pieces of parchment up by hand, their wands confiscated by the gleeful Mr Filch. All day students had been grinning and winking at James, passing congratulatory notes or clapping him on the back as they passed. It was a great feeling, being liked.

James, like most people, very much enjoyed being liked. People liked him for his skills at Quidditch, his daring pranks, his lack of care about consequences, his good looks, his confident and witty persona. He'd worked hard to cultivate that over his five years at Hogwarts. But what stuck in his mind was the one person he'd tried to impress who really _didn't_ like him.

She had been one of those students rolling their eyes and complaining about missing their first period class, and hadn't looked James' way once over the chaos of breakfast.

He had tried just asking her out. He'd tried impressing her. He'd tried flirting with her. He'd tried making his rival for her affections, that slimy git Snape, into a laughing stock. He'd tried to become a bigger and bigger personality so that there was nowhere she could go where they didn't like and talk about James Potter.

But Lily, it seemed, didn't react to the same things that made other people like him. And after three years of chasing her, that had very much lost its appeal. She wasn't just the one he couldn't have, not any more. He outright wished he didn't care a jot about her, but despite his protestations, she just wouldn't get out of his head.

Filch inspected the cleaning job that the boys had made, and seemed disappointed not to find anything to criticise. He released James and the rest of the Marauders from their task, and they disappeared sharpish.

"I can't _believe_ I ended up in detention on day one of sixth year," Remus bemoaned, "I am such a rubbish prefect."

"You're just easily persuaded," Peter attempted to console his friend, but from Remus' disgusted expression, he guessed he hadn't really accomplished much consoling.

"So worth it though," Sirius said with a satisfied sigh, "I won't ever forget those birds dive-bombing old Minnie."

"It _was_ pretty good charmwork," Remus admitted, looking a little more pleased.

"But we need something more impressive," James mused out loud, "Something that will really make them sit up and notice."

"Um," Sirius looked at James as though his bespectacled marauding comrade had temporarily lost his wits, "Pretty sure the whole school noticed that one. Only thing we could have maybe topped it with was some fireworks when they got hit with magic, but we would have needed to get hold of the schedules beforehand for that -"

"The whole school might have seen it, but it didn't impress them all," James said, slowly, obviously considering something.

Remus and Sirius shared a concerned look.

"Look, mate, don't get me wrong - pranks are great fun. But we don't want to actually get expelled. So we probably want to go low profile for a bit, rather than going up a notch straight away, ok? Especially as Moony, as he keeps reminding us, is actually a prefect, and today we did attack McGonagall with class timetables in the shape of origami cranes."

This was true. But how else could James make Lily _notice_ him?

Damn it. He didn't _want_ her to notice him. He _didn't_.

"Alright," he conceded. The other Marauders' relief was palpable: Remus let out his breath noisily; Sirius broke into a grin and nodded merrily; and Peter gave a laugh that was obviously the release of nervous energy.

"But," he said, almost sharp with his friends' reactions, "We still need to do something fun."

"I've still got some of that Nose Growing Potion from Zonko's: we could spike some jugs of pumpkin juice for the first meeting of the Charms Club if you fancy?" Sirius suggested.

"It's certainly an idea," James agreed, and the boys made their way back to the common room deep in conversation over new prank ideas.

* * *

"Did you see that, Abby?" Lily hissed at her friend. The four girls had commandeered the prize armchairs closest to the fireplace in the common room straight after dinner, and had been holding court there all evening in between attempts at completing their first essays of term.

"See what? Did Terence Ellix try to climb under the table and look up girls' skirts again? Little weasel," Abby growled with dislike that spoke of previous experience.

"No," Lily replied, although she took a moment to look under the table just in case - Terence was nothing if not persistent.

"No, I meant did you just see Potter?"

"Oh," Abby said, realisation dawning, "Yes, I did. He wasn't being sly."

"Imagine him listening in on my conversation with Gideon like that. How rude, " Lily remarked, her expression disapproving, "And he didn't even turn away when I looked directly at him - he just carried on blatantly listening!"

"Must have taken one too many Bludgers to the head," Abby surmised, sweeping a lock of her thick, dark hair behind her ear.

Then, suddenly, as though his name had a Taboo on it, he was there, flopping down into the armchair on the other side of Lily, his great long limbs taking up more space than any one person should have a right to.

"Alright, Evans?"

Abby looked away, trying to hide a smirk, and Lily swallowed her annoyance at both of them.

"Potter," she said, acknowledging him, but trying not to invite any further conversation.

Of course, Potter completely ignored that wish.

"So, I see you've started on the homework already," he said with a grin. Lily's jaw clenched briefly. So it would be her diligent bookworm tendencies that would be up for poking fun at this evening.

"I have indeed. Better to get it out of the way," she said lightly, "Although you'll know that, having heard my conversation with Prewett about varieties of death curses."

"He is good at Defence, that Prewett," Potter noted, before his lips quirked up in an uncontrollable grin, "That's why I have him as a Beater."

"How witty," Lily said, in a tone that implied it was anything but.

They both fell silent. It was strange: Lily wasn't sure that she and Potter had ever been silent like this before. Their entire relationship was based on a fast-paced back-and-forward of insults and quips designed to boost one's confidences whilst destroying the other's. If Potter didn't have any further offensive comments to impart, then why was he still sitting there, watching her, with something like indecision in his eyes?

She must be mad. Indecision? Potter? Mr Cocky Arrogant Both Feet First Potter, unsure of anything?

Whatever it was, she wasn't falling for it, anyway.

"And while you try and recover your brain from wherever you've left it, _what_ever's left of it, I have to be going," she said, rising from her armchair. Potter scrambled quickly to his feet, too, in an ungainly fashion, but he was only unsettled for a moment before the veneer of smooth, confident Potter was back in place.

"I'm sure it's hiding alongside your sense of humour, Evans, so whilst I'd ask you to grab it for me if you see it, we both know you won't be finding _that_ commodity any time soon," he said, flashing her a grin that showed too much teeth.

She rolled her eyes, grabbing her bag before leaving for the girls' dorms. She forced herself to keep her pace even, and not to run away from the burning sensation of James Potter's gaze at her back.


	4. My Good Opinion, Once Lost

**Disclaimer: The Characters and the World are, as always, JKR's fabulous invention, and the Storyline is all Austen's :)**

**A/N: Hello all. Sorry for the delay in the update - life has been, well, life. This was a fun scene to write, actually. Nothing like a little UST ;). Hope you enjoy. And thanks so much for the follows, faves and reviews - they do mean a lot :)**

* * *

"I refuse. I absolutely refuse, point blank," Remus said vehemently as the boys piled into the common room through the Fat Lady's portrait hole.

James looked at Sirius. Sirius looked at James. At once, there was a black-haired boy at either side of Remus, arm lifted, armpit smashed in towards his nose.

"PIT-FACE! PIT-FACE! PIT-FACE! PIT-FACE!" they chanted in unison, Peter rolling around in laughter behind them. Remus struggled, but to no avail, and his screeches of disgusted protest soon aroused interest in many of the gathered members of Gryffindor House.

"Oh, mate, not the pits," laughed Longbottom. Prewett smirked in shared amusement, giving James an air-five.

"Mine are as of yet unwashed after Quidditch practice, thus particularly fragrant," James shared evilly, "And Sirius', for some inexplicable reason, are naturally reminiscent of the smell of ball-sack."

"It's a natural talent of mine," Sirius beamed.

With the perpetrators momentarily distracted, Remus managed to free himself, gasping desperately for sweet fresh air. He looked almost haunted, as though he'd smelled things that could not be unsmelled.

"You two are just…" he trailed off, unable to find words for the juvenile and disgusting behaviour of his so-called friends.

"I can guarantee Wormy smells worse," Sirius said in a tone that was possibly supposed to be comforting, "He hasn't showered since we've been back at Hogwarts. And he's been getting all worked up over that sock of Julia Fawley's that 'went missing' two days ago."

"Well, her foot had been in that, you know," James said, before the three Marauders, Longbottom and Prewett all shuddered convulsively.

Peter looked outraged, but on trying to come up with some kind of excuse, realised that he had none, and obviously did not have the talent for lying on his feet that he'd so admired in Sirius Black. So, instead, he went into a sulk.

"So," Sirius continued, ignoring Peter's petulant retreat in the direction of the dorms, "Do we need to expose you to any other oddly fragrant parts of our anatomy in order to convince you to yield?"

Remus couldn't hold back the shudder that wracked his body.

"Dumbledore really was having an off day when he believed I might have any influence over either of you," Remus said regretfully, before reluctantly capitulating.

"Knew you'd soon see sense, Moony, old chap," James crowed over his defeated friend. He held out a hand demandingly towards Sirius, who rolled his eyes as he stuffed his hand deep into his pocket. He withdrew three gleaming gold Galleons, which he tossed casually to James one at a time. The Gryffindor Quidditch star easily snatched each one out of the air, a smug grin on his face, and stuffed them into the recesses of his robes.

"Well, we can discuss the details after dinner," Remus said shortly, his brow creased, "I'd rather wait til the girls are out of the way."

"Oh, speak of the devil," Sirius laughed, looking up towards the girls' staircase. There, sweeping down the spiral staircase like the star in a period drama, was Caroline Bramley and her sidekick, Julia Fawley. James felt the smile slide off his face. Caroline and Julia were fun, but they could be hard work. Especially since Caroline had started watching him a little closer, and laughing a little louder at his jokes, and sneering even more at Lily Evans and her friends than she had before. He was trying to ignore what those signs likely pointed to.

It wasn't that Caroline wasn't a beautiful girl: she was. She knew it, too. But she just wasn't… James' type. She was so calculating, always ready to manipulate a situation to her advantage, the very opposite of open and cheerful and guileless. And, perhaps more telling, Remus didn't like her.

Remus never said it. He wasn't the kind who would, unlike Caroline herself. But he always went a little quiet, and his green eyes hardened just a little in her company. Sirius, who found Caroline and Julia remarkably amusing despite (or perhaps because of) their eternal frustration over his complete lack of attraction to either of them, claimed staunchly that Remus just didn't feel completely comfortable in any group larger than just the Marauders. Whilst James couldn't understand why his clever, kind and good-looking friend managed to get so stuck over the minor matter of his lycanthropy, he certainly could sympathise, and so he'd been able to accept Sirius' theory rather easily.

That was until the events of that particular evening.

* * *

"You and Marlene go on down, I'm just going to finish this letter to Mum. You know if I take too long replying she'll send a Howler, and I really don't want the entire school to hear how useless a daughter I am and how I'll never marry well…" Abby trailed off, a delicate shiver running through her at the thought.

Lily suppressed a smile.

"If you're sure," she said, hesitating a moment, but at Abby's insistent wave she smiled exasperatedly and surrendered. She and Marlene wished their friend luck, and left the dorm to head down towards dinner.

From the top of the spiral staircase down to the common room, Lily spotted the group waiting below and had to fight to stop her face twisting in dislike. Potter. And even worse, Bramley too. As though he'd somehow heard her think his name, Potter turned to look up at the girls' staircase, meeting Lily's green gaze with an odd expression. Lily snorted.

"Look, Potter's judging me again," she laughed bitterly to Marlene, indicating with a nod of her head towards where the dark-haired boy stood looking up at her.

"Maybe he's just looking," Marlene suggested uncomfortably, biting her lip. But her attention was quickly drawn away from Potter towards the sandy-haired boy who stood in the group with him.

"Hey!" Lupin waved up at them, "Marlene! Lily! Are you two heading down to dinner?"

Marlene gaped, unable to find the words to reply to Lupin's surprising invitation. Lily took pity on her.

"Yeah, we are," she smiled down at him, keeping a hand on Marlene's arm so as to ensure she actually carried on down the stairs.

"You should both come with us, we're about to leave," he beamed, his green eyes warm.

Lily hoped Marlene appreciated the sacrifice she was about to make. A whole dinner listening to Potter, Bramley and Black might not only kill off a high percentage of her brain cells, but make her seriously consider whether time in Azkaban was worth a few Unforgivable Curses, however she would do it for her shy, but wonderfully kind friend, whom she knew would do it for her, too.

"Yeah, sounds great," she said, trying to smile sincerely, but in her head trying to work out how quickly she could eat her dinner and leave without seeming either tactless and rude or a mannerless glutton.

Lupin was quick to try and draw Marlene into conversation as they all trooped out of the portrait hole and down towards the Hall. Lily let herself fall back a little, satisfied in watching the pair interact. To someone who didn't know her, Marlene might seem as distant and reserved as always, but to Lily her enthusiasm was perfectly obvious. It was lovely to watch her friend look so happy, and Lupin look equally as interested in her.

However, she wasn't left to her silent consideration of her friend for long.

"So, Evans," said a horribly familiar voice in one ear. Bramley hooked her arm around Lily's, smiling that sickly sweet smile she always used when trying to get her own way, and her sidekick soon appeared on the other side, trapping Lily between the two of them.

"It looks like your little friend has caught Remus' attention. For now, anyway. If we're going to have to spend more time than absolutely necessary in each other's company, we'd best try and come to a truce now, don't you agree?"

It was yet another testament to how much she cared for her friends (and her remarkable self-control) that Lily didn't hex the smarmy look off of Bramley's face. Instead, she took a measured breath, and smiled graciously back at the other Gryffindor.

"That's a marvellous idea, Bramley. At least we can afford to be civil to one another whilst forced into socialising, can we not?"

Bramley laughed a high-pitched, tinkly sort of laugh, whilst Fawley simpered at her from Lily's other side.

"Oh, you are droll, Evans."

Lily plastered an equally simpering smile on her own face, and mentally steeled herself for the turn she was sure the conversation was about to take. If she had learned anything about Bramley over the last five years, then she would definitely manage to turn this somehow to…

"So droll, in fact, that I'm sure you and Peter would get on quite famously."

"Peter, eh?" Lily asked in a flat tone that she hoped would put an end to Bramley's line of questioning.

"Of course! And it would fit rather well: with McKinnon and Remus getting on, and the understanding that James and I have, and Julia's relationship with Sirius…"

"Oh, really," Lily said, brightly, "And here I thought that, despite the size of that head, Potter really didn't have room in it for understanding anything other than himself."

She didn't feel the need to add that a relationship between Black and anything other than his own mirror showed a level of maturity she hadn't come to expect of him: that was just overkill.

Bramley's eyes hardened, and for a moment pure dislike flashed across her pretty features. But she quickly schooled her expression, and forced another tinkly laugh.

"Oh, how witty. You are just great entertainment value, aren't you, Evans?"

"Quite," Lily replied with a quirk of her lips.

Obviously looking for an out, Bramley half turned towards Potter, Black and Pettigrew who were walking a short way behind the girls, the three of them laughing in a way Lily was sure was prophetic of some horrendous magical disaster.

"James," Bramley cooed back at the tall, bespectacled boy, "Do come and hear some of Evans' fabulous jokes. She really is hilarious."

James raised an eyebrow questioningly, then broke into a smug grin.

"Sorry, Caroline, but I'm pretty sure that would just ruin things."

"Ruin things?" Caroline asked in an exaggeratedly curious fashion, "What on earth do you mean? What do you think he means, Julia?"

"I couldn't say, Caroline," Fawley replied sweetly, "Do ask him to explain."

Lily rolled her eyes, and let out a sigh.

"He's desperate for you to ask, you know. The best way to spoil his fun would be to ignore him and carry on."

Bramley hesitated for a moment, but proceeded to brush off Lily's suggestion.

"Oh, do tell, James, it really will annoy me for the rest of the evening otherwise."

"Well," James began in a self-satisfied manner that made Lily long to shake him, "Firstly I couldn't possibly interrupt the riveting 'girl talk' that must surely be going on over there. You've looked absolutely fascinated, Caroline, and I'd hate to deprive you of further opportunities to gossip. Secondly, I have a much better view from back here, and I would hate to leave you un-admired."

"How shocking!" Bramley exclaimed in a decidedly pleased way to Fawley, "I can't believe you, James! We must make you pay for making such remarks, you know. Evans here is a prefect, remember - and I'm sure that counts as sexism or harassment or something."

"As much as I would love to give Potter yet another recommendation for detention and strip yet more points away from Gryffindor," Lily said with a half-smile, "I don't think that's made a scrap of difference to his behaviour in the past. So something closer to the bone, I'd say. Tease him; laugh at him."

Caroline looked completely shocked. Lily wasn't really sure how her suggestion could engender such a reaction, but Caroline hastily informed her of how.

"We couldn't possibly! What on earth is there to laugh at with regards to James Potter? One of the brightest students in our year, Quidditch Captain, excellent duellist and most popular boy in school to boot?"

"I'm sure there's still plenty to laugh at," Lily replied, but the look on Caroline's face made it plain that this was not an option.

"He really is as blind as a bat without those glasses, he has an inability to follow rules, he wears odd socks, sometimes with holes in, and never writes to his parents, despite all the amazing food parcels they send," Black revealed solemnly, before sneaking his friend a slyly amused grin that Potter did not share.

"See, Bramley? It's not the best fodder for laughter, to be sure, but it is there. And good thing too: I couldn't cope with very many people around me whom I couldn't find amusement in. I do love a laugh."

"I'm sure that absolutely anyone, myself included, could be reduced to ridiculous by someone whose first object in life is a joke," James shot at Lily. She could practically feel the sting, and when she met his gaze he looked uncomfortable.

"I hope I'm not _that_ at least," she defended, "I never poke fun at anything clever or good. Quirks and foibles, nonsense and inconsistencies I do find amusing: but these are what Bramley implies you are without."

"Well, that's probably impossible for anyone, I'd say. But I do try," he said with a cocky grin.

"You try, eh? Try what? To avoid being ridiculed?"

"To avoid the weaknesses that expose one to ridicule, more like."

That was interesting, albeit completely warped. Was this the reasoning behind his callous treatment of others?

"Like vanity? Pride?" she asked, ironically.

"Vanity, yes. But pride - that's not a weakness. Not where there's real superiority behind it."

Lily choked back an incredulous laugh.

"So? What is your judgement of our lovely James, then, Evans? Certainly asked enough enlightening questions," Sirius cut in, coming to a halt with his arms crossed, his grey eyes direct and his expression curious. The group came to a stop, all eyes on Lily, who stood defiantly, chin raised in Potter's direction.

"I'm perfectly convinced that Potter has no faults at all," she replied in a tone that flirted with sarcasm.

"I said no such thing," Potter said, bluntly, frustration evident in his face, "I have my faults, definitely, although they are of character rather than understanding. My temper, for example: you might call it resentful. Certainly unforgiving. My good opinion, once lost, is lost forever."

There was a moment's silence, and Lily's green eyes went wide.

"That is a failing indeed. But not one I can laugh at," she said, quietly, her playfulness subdued.

"Everybody has _some_ defining character flaw," he said.

"Well yours is obviously that you mock everyone," Lily shot back at him.

"Then yours is that you wilfully misjudge them," he retorted.

For a long moment, green eyes met hazel and they held each other in an angry gaze. Then Lily came back to herself, suddenly very aware that they stood in the Entrance Hall, not only the rest of the Gryffindors watching them with interest, but many other passing students, too. She looked away, feeling the colour rising to her cheeks.

"Come on, guys, let's head in, or there won't be any food left at this rate!" suggested Pettigrew, straining to be cheerful. In awkward silence, the Gryffindors turned and made their way into the Hall, joining Lupin and Marlene, who barely seemed to have noticed their friends' absence.

Lily noticed Bramley shooting her a few less-than-surreptitious glances during the course of the meal, but she kept her mouth shut - and her gaze away from the frustrating boy with the messy, black hair.

He was a little less dedicated in keeping his eyes away from her, though.


	5. One Good Sonnet Will Stave It Away

**Disclaimer: Characters/Setting borrowed from JK Rowling, and Plot (with some famous quotes) from Jane Austen. Two fantastic and clever female writers that I have simply mashed together...**

**A/N: Sorry for the delay with this one. There is a turning point in the next chapter, and trying to get to that point was proving rather similar to pulling teeth. I hope you enjoy, please read and review!**

* * *

James was making a valiant effort to write his Potions essay, but his very limited interest in the uses of Tentacula venom was being challenged by his recurrent consideration of a pair of bright green eyes. He tried very hard to picture the elixir he'd brewed in class the previous week, but could only envision Lily standing above her own cauldron, a look of intense concentration on her face.

He threw his quill across the common room, petulantly, but a moment later found himself repenting his irritation. He trudged over to retrieve it and continued his essay writing attempt.

Finding himself with a lack of genuine uses for Tentacula venom, James managed to invent a couple: use in antidotes seemed a logical use for venom, but use in maintenance of Invisibility Cloaks was definitely an invention of his own, and use as an ingredient in a ward against Dark Magic was a complete fabrication. He was utterly absorbed in creation of another far-fetched answer when a body gracefully reclined onto the sofa beside him.

"You look deep in thought there, James," came a breathy voice, and James held back a sigh.

"Well, I was, Caroline, until you came along."

"Oh, of course," she laughed airily, "I'm sure it's impossible for you to concentrate when I'm around."

"Well," James replied, raising one eyebrow at her, "You are very loud. And have no understanding of the concept of 'personal space'."

"You really are _so_ funny, James," she said lightly, and James wasn't entirely sure whether she was being sarcastic or sycophantic. He turned back to his essay, hoping (although not believing) that would end the conversation.

A few moments of silence, broken only by the scratching of his quill on parchment, passed.

"You do write uncommonly fast, James," Caroline cooed.

James, who had just been silently lamenting how slowly his essay was coming together, was bemused.

"You're mistaken. I write rather slowly."

"And you write _so_ many essays these days, too. And such difficult subjects you've chosen too. I would find it all rather dull."

"Well," James replied, "It's a good thing it was myself who took those subjects rather than you, then."

He did have a lot of homework (N.E.W.T. courses did that to you) but equally he had been making somewhat more of an effort than usual to complete his assigned work. McGonagall had threatened him with the loss of his shiny little Quidditch Captain's badge at the end of last year, and he knew that it was well worth the pain of a few essays to keep.

"Do you need a new quill?" Caroline persisted, "I have an excellent Dicta-Quill that you could have, if it would help."

"I quite like my own quill, thanks," James said, without looking up at her.

Caroline was feeling quite put out at this point by James' complete lack of interest in her.

"What are you thinking about, James?" she asked, as a last ditch effort.

James was distracted; not thinking clearly. He was staring at his essay, trying to picture the elixir, and the image of Lily Evans floating before his eyes. Lily Evans and those bright green, expressive eyes. And so he didn't watch his tongue when he replied to Caroline.

"A pair of green eyes," he replied, distractedly, scoring out a misspelled word on his parchment.

"Green eyes, eh?" Caroline replied with a sly smile. Inside, she was far from pleased with James' unwitting revelation, but she knew how useful such information could be.

James looked up from his essay, sharply. Oh dear lord. Had he just let slip to _Caroline Bramley_ of all people?

"Any pair in particular?" Caroline asked, lightly, but the airy laugh that accompanied her query seemed chokingly oppressive to James' ears, "Perhaps a certain Titian prefect?"

James said nothing, but met her laughing blue eyes with a look that could have frozen magma.

"Well, I wish you both every happiness," she smirked.

"Girls really do have rapid imaginations," James snarked, "You jump from admiration to love, love to matrimony in the bat of an eyelash."

"I can just see her at home in Godric's Hollow…" Caroline continued, blithely ignoring his objection, "and her and her parents' names etched onto the illustrious Potter family tree. Of course your fathers both work in law enforcement, so I'm sure they'd have lots to talk about at family get-togethers - a shopping centre security guard and the Head of the Auror Office must share so many experiences. Can you imagine their portraits, side by side on the wall?"

James remained silent, but a storm was growing in his hazel eyes.

"And her portrait must be commissioned too - although of course no painter, wizard or otherwise, could do justice to those _green eyes_."

"It would be hard to capture their expression, certainly, but the colour and shape, the remarkably fine eyelashes, might be copied reasonably well," he replied, coldly, "Have you any other suggestions to make?"

It was at that moment that the topic of their conversation entered the room, arm in arm with McKinnon, and followed closely by Macmillan and Macdonald. James froze, his quill hovering about his parchment.

A slow, snakelike smile slithered across Caroline's features.

"Marlene!" she greeted enthusiastically, rising to attach herself, limpit-like, to Mckinnon's other arm and drag the confused girl over to the sofa beside where James sat. Equally confused, and slightly more suspicious, the other three Gryffindor sixth years followed their abducted blonde friend.

Lily couldn't believe her bad luck. Bramley and Potter, with no Marauder-based dilution, either. She felt slightly relieved that Bramley's attention seemed so focused on Marlene instead of herself, but in thinking so a feeling of guilt washed over her.

"I understand that you and Remus have been getting on rather famously," Bramley gushed at Marlene, who turned a shade of rose pink.

"Well, I -" Marlene started, but Bramley didn't give her a chance to continue.

"It is rather sweet. I'm so glad we decided to adopt you into our group, you know," she gushed with an accompanying sugary smile.

"Well," Abby said conspiratorially as she took her seat, leaning in towards Bramley, "Our Marlene always has been popular. Remember that Ravenclaw who insisted on doing all your Potions essays, Marls? And that Hufflepuff who wrote you those odd little sonnets?"

"Poetry?" Bramley said in wicked delight, "How _fascinating_."

Lily snorted from her perch on the arm of the sofa.

"And that was the end of that. I wonder who first realised how effective one good poem is at driving away love?"

"I'm sure the Bard said something about poetry being the _food_ of love, Evans," Potter contradicted. His smile was smug, and his patronising attitude riled Lily up.

"Of a fine, stout, healthy love, maybe. Everything nourishes what is strong already. But if it is a slight, thin sort of inclination, then I am quite convinced one good sonnet will soon starve it entirely away."

It was at that moment that the rest of the Marauders saw fit to arrive. James felt abstract relief when he set eyes on Sirius and Remus, knowing that he was saved: sitting between a determined Caroline and an irritated Evans was never going to end well for him. Sirius scared a few second years out of their armchairs, and he and Remus dragged them up to join the gathering, plonking themselves down.

James frowned.

"Aren't you going to offer Evans that seat, Pads?" he asked, pointedly. Sirius looked from James to Evans, perched on the arm of the sofa, and realisation dawned - but not before Evans managed to get a word in.

"Don't bother," she said, rising from her seat, "I'm just leaving anyway. I have to prepare some things for the next Charms Club meeting."

"Charms Club?" Sirius snickered.

"Yes," Evans replied, unamused, before shooting a withering glance at James, "It might not be fashionable, but some of us are actually interested in academia for it's own sake, you know."

James opened his mouth to object, but the fiery redhead flounced off towards the girls' staircase. How did she always manage to get the final word in?

"So, James," purred Caroline, "Do you have an Exploding Snap deck?"

* * *

"Well, Miss Evans, you haven't lost that natural flair for potion-making over the summer, have you!" chortled a very pleased Professor Slughorn as he examined Lily's gently sparkling Concentration Draught. Abby and Mary pulled faces at her behind the professor's back, and Lily made a rude gesture towards them around the side of her copper cauldron.

"I do hope you take the opportunity to use some of your study periods for Potions practice - I will definitely be recommending to Professor McGonagall that you be put forward as an entry for the Inter-Schools Potion Adaptation Award this year, and the more brewing you do, the better a chance you will have, my girl."

Lily brightened. She loved Potions - there was just something about the subtle infusion of magic in a perfectly balanced brew that felt at once more precise and more creative than Charms or Transfiguration. And a chance to compete for the prestigious Inter-Schools Award against students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang would be excellent, particularly if she did decide to apply for an internship at the Department of Mysteries (and what curious, academically-inclined young witch wouldn't?).

"I will make sure to introduce you to Felicity Dawes at my next little gathering - she won the Award several years ago, and is now involved in the Committee on Experimental Charms at the Ministry, you know."

Lily's smile was a little more forced. Whilst she dutifully attended every one of the Slug Club parties, they really were the most dull affairs - even if the food usually was excellent.

Slughorn turned to Rhiannon Griffiths, whose potion had begun emitting green sparks, and Abby took the opportunity to lean in and converse with her Potion-talented friend.

"Speaking of the Slug Club," she said with a grin, "It's going to be all rather exciting. I'm going with a friend of the family, who I'm dying to introduce you to - I really think you'll hit it off, Lils - and Mary is going with that Ravenclaw prefect, she says he's friends with that Charms Club boy you know?"

"Oh, David?" David Baines was a sixth year Ravenclaw, fellow prefect and member of the Charms Club. Lily got on quite well with him, and very much enjoyed hearing about his latest failed attempts to impress Lydia Rhys-Jones, the other sixth year Ravenclaw prefect, with whom David was madly, unrequitedly and pathetically in love with.

"Yes. The one with the weird floppy hair."

"It's not _that_ floppy."

"But it _is_ weird. And so is his penchant for hats."

Lily nodded in agreement on that one. One particularly memorable instance was the last prefect meeting of last year, which had seen a proper tricorn hat adorning David's head.

"And not only is Marlene going with Lupin, but Potter has Quidditch practice."

Lily broke into a full grin. Potter normally did everything in his power to avoid the Slug Club, despite Professor Slughorn's best efforts to catch him, and whilst she had been fairly sure he wouldn't suddenly appear there now, she had also worried that his absence might mean Lupin was too shy to turn up by himself, what with the delicious unresolved sexual tension between him and Marlene. It looked like the Slug Club gathering might be rather fun this time, after all.


End file.
